Slotted ironing table top



Feb. 24, 1942. H, B m, ET'AL 2,273, 51

SLOTTED IRONING TABLE TOP Filed April 10, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 rera IN VENT ORS. Horace B. /by am 772mm: f/ Fay.

ATTORNEYS.

Feb.24, 1942. FAY ETAL 2,273,851

- SLOTTED IRONING TABLE 1'01 Filed April 10, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS. Horace .B. 52y and Thomas hfFay BY y I ,4 Trap/Vera Patented Feb. 24, 1942 *UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLOTTED IRONING TABLE 1T0]? Horace -B. Fay and Thomas H. :Eay, 'Willoughby, Ohio.

Application April 1-0, 1941, Serial No. 3,8 1,954

8 Claims- The present invention relates to i ening table tops or ironing boards and hasforits object th provisionof a wooden table top whicheliminates the usual faults of warping and checking present in the'usual construction.

I-Ieretofore ironing boards or tops for ironing tables have been made from either a single wooden board cut to the usual configuration of a substantially rectangular main portion and a restricted nose portion, or from aboard made up of a few longitudinally extending pieces glued together along their edges to form aboard of the desired size, usually two or three pieces.

Such boards are subject 'to warping. In use the board is subjected to rapid changes of temperature and to great changes in moisture content. When in use with heavy ironing, the pad which covers the board quickly becomes sog y with moisture and thus the board itself is first wet and then dried out as it stands between times As all the fibres in the wood run longitudinally of the board, whether it is a single integral piece of wood or made up of two or more longitudinallyextending pieces, the strains caused by constant wetting and drying cause rapid and bad warping of the board in a short time.

To eliminate such conditions or to reduce .them to a negligible minimum, we have provided an ironing table top made out of a heavy plywood. In this top we have used a relatively thick inner layer and either one or two thin plies on each side. The inner layer may 'be of softwood and will preferably be made of small pieces of wood glued or joined together into a board, while the outer layer or layers will preferably be made of hard wood.

After such a top or board is made it will be slotted into a series of relatively narrow strips with longitudinal openings or slots therebetween. These slots may extend substantially the full length of the board from the full width rear, end to points near the front edges thereof or may be made in series of slots with full portions left uncut across the board.

By providing a board made of plywood and then by dividing such a board into a series of narrow strips, spaced from each other, we have eliminated to a large degree the warpage of the usual construction.

In addition we have provided relatively thin strips which, if they do warp, are free to move sideways of the board and thus merely increase and decrease the width of certain of the slots, but substantially eliminating warpage from the vertical plane and keepin it, in the horizontal plane or the Plane of the top.

SuchftQpS may be inexpensively manufactured as the inner heavy ply ofv the board may be fabricated from scrap lumber and the thin veneers that form the ironing surface can be economically applied thereto. plies will be joined together preferably by waterproof adhesives so as .to .eliminate the danger of the joints coming apart :under use and there will be no general longitudinal grain which reduces the strength of the .wood towarping out of the normal plane of the board or top.

To 'the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain structure embodying the invention, such disclosed structure constituting, however, but one of various structural forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a wooden' ironing table, top showing our improved construction;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1-;

Fig. "3- is a fragmentary section with plies broken away to show the construction of the board;

Fig. 4 is atop planview of a modified construction showing integral full cross portions;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a top' plan view of another modification; and

Fig, '7 is a perspective view of an ironing table with our improved top shown as mounted upon a conventional leg structure.

In the drawings, we have shown, see Fig. 7, an ironing table lllhavin-g a top ll of our'improved construction mounted on a conventional folding leg stand I2. The particular type of leg stand is not important except that the full transverse The pieces and suitable waterproof adhesive. This center ply may, of course, be a single sheet or be made up of a series of full length strips, but the cost of such material compared with the use of small scrap lumber makes the latter preferable.

After the board is formed, it will be slotted or sawed into a series of spaced strips 25, each slot 26 extending in the form shown in Fig. 2 from the rear of the board to a point adjacent the restricted nose, but leaving an uncut nose end 21 and uncut side edges 28.

To hold the strips in their spaced slotted relation two or more cross straps 29 and 3| are employed, the strap 29 being shown in the form of a comb with its teeth 30 extending between the strips 25, and glued or otherwise secured thereto.

The other cross strap 3| is shown as a thin board of sufiicient width and thickness to form a satisfactory support for the forward attachment of the leg structure and is bonded or otherwise secured to the strips 25 to hold them properly spaced and to act as a rigid cross brace. It is, of course, obvious that the types of cross straps, combs or flat straps may be varied to suit as it is merely necessary to space and hold the longitudinal strips and to supply suitable attaching points for the leg structure.

In Figs. 4 and 5 a modified type of board 4| is shown in which the slots do not extend the full length of the board. In the form shown two sets of slots 42 and 43 are provided with an unslotted rear portion 44 and an unslotted cross portion 45, these unslotted portions forming the points of attachment for the legs. The rear series of slots 42 extend from the portion 44 to the center cross portion 45 while the front series of slots 43 are extended to the nose to conform to the general contour thereof with the board having the nose and edges uncut.

In Fig. 6 we have shown another form of board 5| in which there is provided a large relatively rectangular rear portion 52 and a greatly reduced nose end 53 of the shape of a sleeve board and preferably only a few inches wide. e

In this form of board, we have shown the integral rear and transverse uncut portions 54 and 55 with the series of slots 56 and 51 but the front slots 57 are here shown as being out of longitudinal line with the slots 58 of the other series, thus breaking up the continuous longitudinal strip effect of the previous forms.

In this form the center slot or slots 51A of the front series may be extended into the sleeve board end as shown in dotted line or they may all stop within the main wider portion of the board. The necessity for slotting to reduce warpage is, of course, less in the narrow sleeve board nose than in the wide portions of the board.

The present boards will be made of the usual ironing board shapes and sizes and the constructionis equally applicable to all sizes of ironing boards as the slotting not only reduces the warpage to a minimum but also tends to hold the warpage of the strips to movement in the transverse or horizontal plane. Movement of individual strips sidewise merely increases the slot on one side and reduces it on the other and as the slots are made very narrow even if the slot at any point is doubled in width it is below the width that will cause the usual pad to enter the slot and cause marking of the material being ironed.

While the board has been described as being made of five sheet plywood, it is obvious that any desired number of plies may be used, and that the grain in the individual plies may be so arranged relative to each other that the tendency of one ply to warp will be counteracted by an adjacent ply.

Other modes of applying the principle of our invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the structure herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board having one end restricted to form a nose portion, said board being divided into a series of spaced longitudinal strips and means extending transversely of the top for holding said strips inspaced relation, said means forming the attachment portions for the legs.

2. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board having one end restricted to form a nose portion, said board being divided into a series of spaced longitudinally extending strips with narrow slots therebetween, said slots extending from the rear end of said board toward the nose but terminating short of the side and forward edges thereof to leave a continuous unslotted portion, and means extending transversely of the top to hold said strips in their fixed spaced relation, said meansalso forming cross portions acting as attaching members for the legs.

3. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board having one end restricted to form a nose portion, said board being divided into a series of spaced longitudinally extending strips with narrow slots therebetween, said slots extending from a point adjacent the rear end of said board to points adjacent the edges and nose of said board but leaving a continuous unslotted portion completely around said board and means for holding said strips in fixed spaced relation and forming a cross member for leg attachment.

4. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board having a rectangular main portion and a restricted nose portion, said board being slotted to form a series of spaced longitudinally extending strips, the terminating forward ends of such slots conforming to the contour of the restricted nose of said board to leave a substantially even unslotted portion along the sides and nose of said board, and cross members secured to the under side of said board to secure said strips in fixed spaced relation and to act as the attaching members for the table legs.

5. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board formed of a central ply made up of relatively large number of small pieces and other plies on opposite sides thereof, said board having a rectangular main portion and a restricted nose portion, said board being slotted into a series of spaced longitudinally extending strips, the terminating forward ends of such slots conforming to the contour of the restricted nose of said board to leave a substantially even unslotted portion along the sides and nose of said board, and cross members secured to the under side of said board to secure said strips in fixed spaced relation and to act as the attaching members for the table legs.

6. An ironing board top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board having a substantially rectangular main portion and a restricted nose portion, said board being provided with a plurality of series of spaced slots with unslotted portions at the rear, between said series of slots, and at the nose and around the edge, at least two of said uncut portions providing attaching points for the legs.

7. An ironing table top adapted to have legs attached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board shaped to form a top and having a large substantially rectangular main portion and a small sleeve board nose portion, said main portion of said board being provided with longitudinally-spaced series of slots with an unslotted rear edge portion and a transverse unslotted portion forward of the rear edge of the board, the series of slots ahead of such transverse unslotted portion terminating short of the sleeve board nose, said rear unslotted portion and said transverse unslotted portion forming cross members to maintain the fixed relation of the strips beattached thereto, said top consisting of a plywood board shaped to form a top and having a large substantially rectangular main portion and a small sleeve board nose portion, said main portion of said board being provided with longitudinally spaced series of slots with an unslotted rear edge portion and a transverse unslotted portion forward of the rear edge of the board, the series of slots ahead of such transverse unslotted portion having its center slots extending into said sleeve board nose portion but having an unslotted portion at said nose and along the sides of said nose and main portion integral with said rear and transverse unslotted portions to form a unitary structure, said rear and transverse portions'serving as attaching members for the legs.

HORACE B. FAY. THOMAS H. FAY. 

